Lobby group Which? has demanded ministers press for further simplification of energy pricing. It says the steps taken so far by Ofgem, the sector's watchdog, do not go far enough to help consumers compare deals, leaving the market "broken" with "inadequate competitive pressure".

In particular it highlights standing charges - the controversial, fixed charges that are applied on a daily basis. Standing charges historically covered the installation of meters and other equipment.

Some energy companies scrapped them and instead introduced a two-tier pricing. Here, the first amount of energy used would be charged at a higher rate for a set amount of units. Once the household exceeded that consumption the cost would fall to the second, lower unit rate.

These price anomalies resulted in thousands of cost variations and made it fiendishly hard to compare one tariff with another.

The research published by Which? shows standing charges are still alive and well. It took one theoretical consumer in one region - the West Midlands - and discovered they could choose from over 109 different tariffs including "some 75 different standing charges".

Which? said: "These standing charges varied, sometimes even within energy companies, ranging from zero up to £402 a year on individual gas and electricity deals combined and as much as £373 on a dual fuel tariff."

Ofgem, despite implementing a new "Standards of Conduct" aimed at simplifying bills, has said standing charges may continue to be applied.

Which? wants Energy Secretary Ed Davey, pictured above, to intervene.

Which? director Richard Lloyd said: “Ofgem’s current plans to reform energy tariffs do not go far enough to simplify the market for consumers. If the Government fails to take more radical action, people will not feel confident that they are paying a fair price for their energy.”

So far almost 11,000 pople have signed an online petition calling for greater tariff simplicity.